


Somewhere In Between

by CottonCandyWhump



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: A-Z, Allegic Reaction, Allergic reaction, Allergies, Anaphylaxis, Angst, Bleeding, Blood Test, Epipen, Fainting, Fear, Gay, Gen, Hurt Casey, Hurt Kelly Severide, Hurt Matthew Casey, Kelly Severide Whump, Kissing, M/M, Matthew Casey Whump, Needles, Panic Attack, Sick Matthew Casey, Sickfic, Whump, allergy, claustrophobic, concussion, fall - Freeform, sick, sick!Casey, sick!Matt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-04-12 12:04:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 6,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19131667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CottonCandyWhump/pseuds/CottonCandyWhump
Summary: An A-Z for Chicago Fire. Most of these will be whump, angst or sickfics.





	1. A - Accusations

“It was your fault he died and you know!” 

Casey flinches as the accusation hits way too close to home. He whirls around, a look of shock and hurt clear on his face. 

“I know! I know it was my fault! Goddamnit, Kelly! I remind myself every day!” Casey shouts. He eyes are burning and if he had any tears left to cry, he’d be sobbing.

Severide sees the look of self hatred on his friends face and immediately regrets his words.

“Casey-,” he calls.

Casey ignores him as he leaves the fire station, bumping shoulders with Mills as he leaves.

“What-? Lieutenant? Are you ok?” Mills asks. Casey ignores him, feeling something wet on his face. 

Tears. He realizes. 

“Casey!” Severide calls after him, sprinting to keep up. 

“Just leave me alone.”


	2. B - Burns

“Ow!” Casey exclaims, flinching away.

“Hold still!” Dawson snaps, applying some burn ointment to the lieutenants shoulder.

“I said I was fine!” He protests.

“And i didn’t believe you. Now hold still.”


	3. C - Claustrophobic

“Lieutenant? Are you ok?” Mills asks, putting a hand on Severide’s shoulder.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” Kelly responds, pushing the panic to the back of his mind and climbing into the vents. He feels the metals walls pressing into his sides, closing up his lungs so he can barely get a breathe in. 

“Mills, I’m not going to fit. I need you up here,” Severide chokes out before making his way out of the vents.

“Sure thing, Lieutenant!”

As soon as he’s out of the vents,he can breathe again. There’s no metal pressing in on him and he takes a few deep breathes.

“What’s wrong Sev? You getting old?” Casey jokes, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Haha. Very funny.”


	4. D - Drowning

Severide takes a deep breathe before plunging into the frigid lake water. He makes his way down to the very bottom, over to the light blue minivan that’s turned in it’s side. He slides in through the open window and starts to secure the woman.

He’s just about ready to go back up when his hose gets caught on something, ripping and sending all his oxygen to the surace. Severide starts choking on the water and quicky yanks on the rope twice. He feels his men start to pull him up just as black dots start to take over his vision.

~~~

When the firefighters up above see the bubbles burst on the surface, they know something’s wrong. Less than three seconds later, there’s two tugs on the rope, the latter weaker than the former.

About a minute later, Severide and the woman break the surface, both unconscious.

“Start CPR!” Dawson calls, starting mouth to mouth on the woman, leaving Casey to get Severide breathing. He presses his mouth to his friends, pinching his nose shut and gives him two breathes. He tries again, five breathes of two, before checking for breathing. He glances over at Dawson and the woman and sees that the woman is conscious and breathing, hugging Dawson and thanking her repeatedly.

Casey turns his attention back to his best friend and gives him five more breathes of two. Checking again bears the same results. 

In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In-

Just as he’s about to take a fourth breathe, Severides pitches forwards, coughing and vomiting lake water down Casey uniform. 

“Was it you who kissed me?” Severide asks, mock disgust in his voice.

“Of course! I’ve been waiting for years!” Casey jokes, fluttering his eyelashes. 

“Shut up,” Severide laughs, smacking him in the shoulder.

“Real talk, I’m glad you’re ok.”


	5. E - Epipen

“Look who’s here!” Mills announces, leading a small group of Girl Guides into the station.

“Hey! You guys got any thin mints?” Severide asks, running over.

“Yeah!” One of the girls exclaims excitedly, holding up a box.

“How many boxes?” 

“Twelve!” Another girl answers, moving aside to show him a red wagon filled with different cookies, the thin mints piled over in the corner.

“Tell you what. I’ll buy all the thin mints and.... three boxes of double chocolate,” Severide says, taking out his wallet.

“Lieutenant!” Herrmann complains.

“Relax, Herrmann. I’ll share,” Severide says with a grin.

“See kids? Even firefighters share!” One of the parents says, leaning down.

“Truck 81, Squad 6, Ambulance 61.”

The Girl Guides watch in wonder as the firefighters head to their trucks, dressed and ready to go in seconds.

“Hey! Cruz” Severide calls to the man coming in late.

“Sorry Lieutenant! I’ll be ready in-.”

“Nevermind. Take these to the kitchen. Have as many as you like but for the love of god leave me some thin mints,” Severide instructs, hoping into the truck and leaving Cruz with the Girl Guides.

~~~

“Hey Cruz! Where did you put my cookies?” Severide calls. 

“On the counter, Lieutenant!”

“Thanks! Hey Casey, try one,” Kelly says, holding out the box of thin mints.

“No thanks. I’m allergic to mint,” Casey declines, heading for the box of double chocolate cookies left on the table.

With a shrug, Kelly bites into his cookie, waiting for the refreshing minty taste that never comes.

“This isn’t mint,” Kelly frowns at his cookie before he hears a choking sound and turns around.

“Lieutenant!” Mills calls, kneeling beside Casey who’s struggling to breathe, his skin red and covered in hives.

“Epipen!” Casey chokes out before he loses consciousness, his head smacking the ground.

“Lieutenant, check his locker for an epipen!” Mills orders when he sees Severide standing in the doorway, gaping.

Kelly takes off, quickly looking through Matt’s locker for an epipen while Mills ruffles through his pockets.

“I can’t find one!” Kelly yells, panicked.

“Chief Boden should have one. Go find him,” Mills instructs, trying to clear Casey’s airway.

Severide sprints to Boden’s office, throwing the door open and earning himself a stern glare.

“Lieutenant Severide, I’m in the middle of-!”

“Epipen! Casey’s epipen!” Severide yells. Chief Boden immediately reaches into the second drawer and hands it to him.

“Orange to the thigh, blue to the sky,” he instructs, following Severide’s sprint at a slower pace. By the time he gets to the kitchen, Severide had already administered the epipen and the rest of the firefighters were crowded around their fallen Lieutenant.

“Give him some room!” Boden orders, making most of the firefighters back off.

“Dawson, Shay! Get the ambo ready!” Mills yells, he and Severide rolling Casey over when he starts to choke, vomit blocking his airway.

“Ambo’s ready!” Shay calls, Mills and Severide getting Casey onto the gurney and loading him into the ambulance.


	6. F - Fall

“Casey!” Severide shouts after the giant semi truck plows into the fire truck, jerking the ladder and sending Casey over the edge.

His shout is met with a few similar ones and Casey’s own shout of alarm. Casey manages to grab one of the rungs, his arm jerking painfully.

Severide and Mills start climbing up the ladder to help their friend while Chief Boden goes to find out exactly what the driver was thinking.

Severide's halfway up the ladder when he hears Casey scream, his hand slipping and his head smacking the metal.

“Hold on, Casey!” Severide shouts, climbing faster than he thought was possible.

“What else would I be doing?!?” Casey snaps.

Severide huffs as he finally reaches Casey, Mills a few feet behind him. He grabs Casey’s arm and Mill’s grabs his other arm just as Casy’s body goes limp, pulling down hard on both the firefighters who struggle to keep his balance.

“Three, two, one! Pull!” Severide yells and he and Mills start pulling Casey up. They have him halfway on the ladder when the semi plows into the truck again, shaking the ladder. Kelly and Mills manages to grab onto the ladder in time but they lose their grip on Casey, who tumbles over the side of the ladder.

“Casey!” Severide yells, scared to look down and see his friend’s body sprawled on the pavement in a pile of blood.

He manages to peek over the edge to see Herrmann and Otis pulling an unconscious Casey off the air bag. Severide lets out a breath of relief and looks over at Mills whose eyes are squeezed shut.

“Mills. Look down,” Kelly tells him.

“No!” Mills chokes out.

“They got the airbag up, he’s fine!” Kelly says, laughing in relief. Mills opens his eyes and looks down, a smile breaking out across his face. 

“Oh thank god,” Mills breathes as they climb down to see their friend.


	7. G - Guess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some gay shit goes down. 😏🏳️🌈

Casey stumbles back as the woman tackles him, kissing him right on the lips.

“What-,” He starts before he’s interrupted by the woman trying to take his shirt off.

“Hey! Stop!” He yells, trying to get her off.

“Ma’am! Ma’am!” Boden yells, trying to pull her off the Lieutenant.

It takes Boden, Severide and Herrmann to pull her off Casey, who’s bright red with black lipstick stains all over his face. Herrmann takes her over to the ambulance and Boden goes to talk to the news crew who got the whole thing on film. Severide stalks over, pushing Casey against the truck. Casey lets out a squeak as Severide kisses him and after a second starts kissing him back. He can feel everyone's eyes on him and Severide steps away when someone clears their throat and Casey flushes red, looking down. 

“It’s about time!” Herrmann exclaims, slapping their backs. Shay smirks at Severide and he in turn looks to Casey.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he says.

“What for?” Casey asks, frowning in confusion.

“Guess.”

~~~

It makes the front page the next morning with the headline “Fireman assaulted by grateful woman, another fireman stakes his claim.”


	8. H - High

“You okay, candidate?” Casey asks, taking in the new guys pale skin and shaky hands. They were on top of the ladder, trying to help this guy stuck on his roof.

“Yeah. It’s just… really really high,” the candidate says before his eyes roll into the back of his head and he crumples like a ragdoll.

“Hey Severide! A little help here? Candidate fainted!”


	9. I - Ice

“Careful when you drive home. The roads are pretty icey,” Severide warns as Casey leaves. They had gotten together for a movie night and had fallen asleep on the couch. It was now three in the morning and Casey was adamant that he had to get home, despite Severide’s offer to spend the night.

“Yeah I know. Nothing like Chicago winters,” Casey says with a grin, pulling out of the driveway. He’s thirty minutes out when he feels the truck start to slide. He fights with the wheel for control, trying his best to get back on the road. His attempts are futile and the truck slides off the road, into the forest and down the hill. His head smacks against the wheel and he blacks out.

~~~

“Truck 81, Squad 6, Ambulance 61.”

“Herrmann, you cover for Casey!” Boden orders before they race for the scene, lights flashing and sirens blaring.

“Severide, you take truck! Find the vehicle and stabilize the passengers,” Boden orders.

Severide makes his way down the hill, gripping trees so he doesn’t fall. He gets to the car and looks inside. His heart stops as he realizes who it is.

“Chief, it’s Casey!” 

“What?” Boden asks, clearly confused.

“It was Casey’s truck! Casey’s inside! Oh god,” Severide tells him, starting to panic as he sees all the blood.

“Does the victim have a pulse?” Boden asks, subtly reminding him to focus.

“Pulse. Right,” Severide says to himself as he checks, not sure he’ll like what he finds, “He has a pulse. It’s weak but it’s there! Send Mills down with a backboard. The trucks starting to leak gas.”

“Mills!” Boden barks over the radio and Mills heads down, a yellow backboard and a collar under his arm. He suddenly slips in the mud, sliding down the hill until he hits Severide's legs.

“Sorry Lieutenant,” Mills apologizes before looking into the car and paling.

“Lieutenant-! That’s-,” Mills starts before Severide interrupts him.

“Focus,” Kelly orders, opening the car door and carefully taking Casey out, laying him on the backboard. He and Mills take him up the hill, taking good care not to slip, and into the ambulance.


	10. J - Juggling

“Cindy! Can you grab that?!?” Herrmann yells as the doorbell rings.

“Annabelle! Luke! Quit it!” He shouts as he sees the two kids fighting over the remote. 

“Cindy!” He shouts again, trying to simultaneously change Kenny and get Annabelle and Luke to calm down.

“I’m busy, Christopher!” His wife yells down. 

Herrmann growls as Kenny starts peeing down his shirt.

“Daddy! Luke hit me!” Annabelle cries, running over.

“Luke! Quit it! Annabelle, go play!” Herrman yells, quickly putting Kenny in a new diaper and running to answer the door with has rung for the third time.

“What?!?” He snaps, yanking open the door. He sees Dawson and Otis standing there, looking shocked.

“You look like shit,” Dawson says.

“Yeah I know,” Herrmann sighs, wiping a hand across his face, “I’m just kind of juggling everything right now.”


	11. K - Karma

“Hey Mills! Look out!” Casey yells, seeing a car speeding towards the candidate. He starts sprinting forwards when it becomes clear Mills wouldn’t move in time.

“Huh?” Mills says, turning around. He stands there, frozen as Casey jumps in front of the car, shoving Mills out of the way and diving after him. The car speeds by, not caring that it nearly killed two firefighters.

“You two alright?” Boden asks, coming over.

“Fine,” Casey answers, offering Mills a hand up. Mills takes it, still in shock. Suddenly, a huge crash is heard and Casey turns around to see the car crashed into a tree. The driver gets out immediately, unharmed and looks at his car in horror.

“Well. I guess karma is a bitch,” Matt remarks.


	12. L - Liar

“Andy was my best friend!” Casey shouts. He and Severide were at it again and the rest of the station was awkwardly pretending nothing was happening.

“So you decided to fuck his wife?!?” Severide yells. Casey feels his blood boil. Kelly had no right to spread lies like that.

“We’re just friends!” Casey yells back. By now, the rest of the squad had given up on ignoring the fighting and was now watching it, looking from Severide to Casey as if watching a tennis game.

“I can’t fucking believe you! If you’re going to fuck our dead friends wife, at least have the decency to be honest about it!” Kelly shouts, shoving the smaller man.

“We’re not fucking so you can back off and shut your mouth,” Casey snaps, shoving Kelly back into the counter. Kelly punches Casey in the jaw, making his head whip around and Casey retaliates, punching his cheek. The rest of the squad finally reacts, running over to break up the fight between their two Lieutenants. Casey pushes Mills back when he tries to get in between them and Kelly takes advantage of his distraction to shove him to the ground. Severide straddles his waist, punching his face over and over again as Casey struggles to fight back. By the time Boden, Herrmann, Mills and Otis manage to get Severide off, Casey’s barely conscious.

“You’re a fucking liar!” Severide screams as Herrmann and Boden drag him out of the room.


	13. M - Miscalculation

“Casey! Come on, jump!” Severide calls as he friend hesitates in the window of the burning building. Casey steps back a few steps before taking a running leap, just barely missing the ladder. He blindly throws a hand out as he feels himself falling and catches part of the ladder. As he struggles to pull himself up, Kelly hurries to give him a hand.

“What happened?” Severide asks when they’re both on top of the ladder.

“Just a little miscalculation,” Matt tells him.


	14. N - Needle

“It’s just a little prick, okay?” Mills says as he uncaps the needle. Casey looks at him, completely unimpressed.

“I’m not a seven year old, Mills.”

“Right, sorry,” Mills says, flushing.

He’s inserting the needle when one of the trucks sirens goes off, making Casey flinch. The needle plunges into the wrong place and Casey yelps. 

“What the hell, Mills?!?” Casey shouts, eyeing the blood pooling around the needle. 

“Shit!” Mills exclaims, quickly pulling the needle out before it can cause more damage. Pulling it out seems to be a mistake as more blood starts to flow from the wound, covering the Lieutenant’s arm. Mills quickly grabs a few paper towels and presses it to the wound, frowning when they’re soaked through in seconds. He removes the paper towels and instead presses one of the hand towels against it.

“Shay, Dawson! I need a hand in here!” Mills calls, looking up to see his lieutenant pale, his head lolling. The two paramedics rush in and upon seeing Mills pressing the blood covered towel to the wound, stop dead in their tracks.

“What happened?” Shay asks, eyeing the blood covered needle on the table.

“He moved!” 

“Oh god, okay,” Shay grabs another towel and quickly puts pressure on the wound, discarding the old bloody towel on the floor beside her.

Casey turns his head towards her with a groan but otherwise doesn’t react.

“He’s losing a lot of blood, you must have nicked an artery,” Dawson observes.

“I’ll get the ambo ready,” Dawson offers.

“We need to get him to the hospital. It’s not life threatening but we need to get some more blood in him,” Shay tells them when Mills looks alarmed.

“Nice going, Mills,” Dawson says, leaving the room to prep the ambulance.

“Don’t worry. These things happen,” Shay says, putting a hand on his shoulder.


	15. O - Okay

Casey stumbles out of the burning building, a little kid in his arms. He gets a few steps and hands the kid off to Dawson before his legs give out and he falls to the ground.

“Casey!” Severide exclaims, rushing over.

“I’m okay,” Casey says, trying to push himself up.

“No you aren’t. Stay down.”


	16. P - Poison

“Look what was left on the front step!” Severide exclaims, walking in with a bin of cookies in his hands.

“Sweet!” Mills exclaims, reaching forwards to grab one. 

“Finders keepers!” Severide exclaims, holding the bin above his head. Casey walks by, plucking them out of Severide's hands.

“Hey! Matt!” Severide complains, trying to wrestle the cookies out of his friends hands.

“Finders keepers,” Casey says, repeating Kelly’s earlier words.

Kelly tackles him to the ground, both of them wrestling for the cookies. It looks like Kelly’s going to get the upper hand but Matt quickly flips them over and runs into his office with the cookies, locking the door.

Kelly races after him and tries the doorknob, disappointed to find that its locked.

“Casey! Come on, man!” Severide protests, watching through the glass as Casey takes a bite of the cookie, making direct eye contact. Severide knows something isn’t right when Caseys pales and falls to the ground, convulsing.

“Casey!” Severide yells as he and the other firefighters jump into action. Kelly shatters the glass door without a second thought and steps into the room, running to his friends side. 

It’s all a blur as Shay and Dawson rushed him to the hospital and the next thing Severide remembers clearly is being told that Casey would be okay. 

“The cookies were poisoned with arsenic. Apparently the ladies cat was killed in a house fire you responded to a while back. She’s been apprehended and is looking at life in prison,” Antonio tells them when they’re all crowded around Casey’s bed, waiting for him to wake up.

“Her cat?” Mills says in disbelief. Antonio nods.

“That’s insane.”


	17. Q - Quiet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates might be a little slower than usual. My arms burned (Somewhat ironically) fairly bad and it's making typing a slow and annoying process.

"Fire department! Call out!" Casey yells before pausing to listen for a response.

"Casey! Get down!" Someone shouts and Casey drops without without a second thought. From this angle, he could see under the table where a little boy was sobbing before his small body is engulfed in flames. The boy screams and Casey freezes, not able to do much else but think "Oh god, he's dead."

"Lieutenant!" Herrmann calls, his heart stopping when Casey doesn't move. Casey doesn't react even as Herrmann taps him on the shoulder.

"Lieutenant? We have to go. The buildings unstable," Herrmann says, tugging his lieutenant to his feet and dragging him out. Casey's practically useless, stumbling along with no real idea where he is or what's happening. His mind keeps replaying the boys final moments, that horrible scream torturing him over and over. He doesn't react when Herrmann leads him out into the cool autumn air. He doesn't react when Boden heads over, asking what happened. He doesn't react when Severide leads him to the ambulance. He doesn't even react when he's loaded up on a gurney and sent into a hospital room.

The next few days pass in a blue with Casey laying in the hospital room, being fed trough a tube. It's been five days after the fire when he finally speaks, startling Kelly who was dozing off in the chair beside him.

"I didn't hear him. He was so quiet."


	18. R - Recovery(?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of Chapter 9 Ice. Stay tuned for the letter U. ;)

"Talk to me!"

"Male firefighter, car went off the road. Possible concussion and internal bleeding," Shay tells the doctors at Chicago Med as she hands over the unconscious lieutenant off to them.

"Somebody get Rhodes over here!" One of the doctors yells.

~~~

"Matthew Casey?" One of the doctors asks, looking around the room and taking in the dirt and soot covered firefighters sitting, tense, in the waiting room. When he says the name of the victim, every one of their heads snap up, eager to know how their friend is doing. God, he hated to be the one to tell them.

"Yes? Is he okay? When can we see him?" The firefighter that rode with in the ambulance with the victim asks, standing up.

"I really hate to be the one to tell you this but-," the doctor starts, not getting a chance to finish before the one who asks cuts him off with an anguished cry. It was a horrible sound, one of mourning and desperation.

The blond paramedic that brought the victim in wraps her arms around the firefighter as loud sobs wrack his body.


	19. S - Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is alot longer than I planned but here you go. Only two more letters.

“Cruz, pull over.”

“What-? Why?” Cruz asks, looking up at his lieutenant in confusion.

“Now!” Casey orders, slapping a hand over his mouth as he gags. 

The conversation in the back of the truck stops abruptly as Casey gags again. Cruz pulls over just as Casey throws up, pushing the door open just in time. He leans over the edge of the truck as his stomach rebels, splattering the pavement with a watery beige substance. As soon as his stomach calms down for a minute, Casey undoes his seatbelt. He slams the door shut before stumbling around to the back of the truck. He hears the door open and shut and feels somebody coming up behind him as he throws up onto the pavement.

“Get back in the truck,” Casey orders.

“Lieutenant-,” Herrmann starts.

“No matter what, I’m still in charge. Back in the truck or you’re suspended,” Casey says, pulling rank.

Herrmann just nods, leaving a bottle of water beside Casey as he heaves again, vomit splattering the trucks tire.

Casey’s outside for nearly ten minutes, struggling to calm his stomach down. Every time he seems to get it under control, more of his stomach contents make their way up his throat. It’s at the fifteen minutes mark when he finally feels ready to get into the truck. He rinses his mouth out with the water Herrmann left for him before hopping back in the truck, slamming the door shut behind him.

“This stays here. If I hear otherwise, it’s drills all week,” Casey says before closing his eyes as his headache rages.

“Lieutenant? Do you need me to stop again?” Cruz asks uncertainly.

“No.”

The men in the back of the truck exchange glances but don’t say anything. They pull up to the station a few minutes later and Casey heads into his office, closing the blinds and shutting the door.

“Should we… say anything?” Mills asks hesitantly.

“Not unless you want to do drills all week,” Cruz replies.

Mills frowns but heads to the kitchen to make lunch. 

~~~

“Lunch!” Mills calls as he sets down a plate of burgers on the table. He quickly snags one before they’re all gone and takes a seat.

“Where’s Casey?” Severide asks as he digs in to the burger, frowning when he doesn’t see the other lieutenant.

Mills is about to respond when they hear retching coming from Casey’s office. Severide stands up and immediately heads towards Casey’s office, opening the door and slipping in. What he sees immediately makes his stomach twinge in sympathy. Casey’s sitting up in his bunk, vomit covering his shirt, pants and sheets. His eyes are glassy, clearly from a fever and he looks like he’s about to pass out.

“Jesus Matt,” Kelly breathes, taking in the mess.

“M’sorry,” He responds, his words slurred. Matt pales as he retches again and Severide’s about to grab the trashcan when he realizes it isn’t lined and instead watches helplessly as Matt covers the sheets in more vomit.

“Hey Matty, babe, it’s ok,” Severide says, putting a hand on his back. He can feel the heat radiating through Casey’s shirt and frowns. First things first, he needs to get Matt into some clean clothes and a clean bunk. After that, he can take his temperature and go from there.

“Hon? We need to get you into some clean clothes. Can you put your arms up for me?” Kelly asks, grabbing a clean t shirt and some CFD sweats from the desk. When he turns around, he sees his boyfriend slumped against the wall, unconscious. Severide sighs but carefully picks up the sick lieutenant and gets him into the chair. Getting the clean clothes on is a challenge but luckily he succeeds without making too much of a mess. 

“Shay! Herrmann! I need a hand in here!” Severide calls through the slightly open door.

“Holy shit!” Shay blurts out when she sees the state of the room. Herrmann’s a few steps behind her and quickly backs out of the room when he sees the mess, hands up in surrender.

“I’m sending Mills in,” Herrmann says before he turns, fleeing the room.

“Let’s get him into a clean bunk,” Shay says as she takes Casey’s temperature.

“How about my office?” Kelly suggests, knowing that Casey would prefer the solitude and privacy of the officer over the other bunks.

“Sounds great,” Shay agrees as Mills steps into the room, grimacing at the smell.

“Herrmann said you needed help?” Mills says.

“Yeah. I’m going to need a hand getting Casey into my office,” Severide tells him, slightly pissed that Herrmann sent the candidate instead of one of the other firefighters who had been here longer.

“Got it,” Mills says as he loops one of the lieutenants arms over his shoulder, Severide taking the other.

They manage to get him into the main room and immediately all conversation stops as the firefighters stand up to give them a hand. Severide shoos them away and focuses on getting Casey into the office. They’re at the door to Severide's office when Casey groans, his eyes fluttering open.

“Hey, Matty. Just relax, Shay’s going to take your temperature,” Severide tells him as he and Mills lie him down on Kelly’s bunk. Matt just groans and grabs onto Kelly’s hand, refusing to let go as Shay sticks the themometer in his mouth. 

“Shit. 103.6.”

“That’s bad, right?” Severide asks, panicked. 

“Nothing life threatening,” Shay assures him. Severide breathes a sigh of relief before letting out a surprised squeak as Matt pulls him onto the bunk with him. Severide tries getting up, wary of Shay and Mills.

“Stay,” Matt orders, not completely aware of what’s going on.

“Fine. But you need to take some Advil or something,” Kelly tells his boyfriend, knowing that Mills and Shay must’ve figured it out already. Matt nods in agreement and Mills sets out to get some pills.

“How long?” Shay asks, smirking as she sees Matt lie his head on Kelly’s chest and sigh in content.

“About three months,” Kelly’s answers, flushing.

“Lieutenant?” Mills says uncertainly from the doorway. In one hand he has a glass of water and in the other, two pills. Severide takes them, giving the candidate a nod of thanks. He can hear Shay saying something to Mills as he tries to persuade Matt to take the pills. 

After Casey finally takes the Advil, Severide keeps his end of the deal and lays down with his boyfriend.

~~~

Boden finds them a few hours later. Matt curled up against Kelly with his head on the other lieutenants chest and Kelly with his arm around Matt protectively.


	20. T - Tased

“Police! Stop!” 

Casey looks up when he hears the shout just in time to see the man running from the police crash into him, sending both of them to the ground. Casey quickly flips them over so he’s on top, hoping to give the officers a hand by detaining the man. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was the sudden surge of pain as the officer fires the taser into his stomach. 

“Oh shit!” The officer blurts as he sees the firefighters body seizing. The officer immediately lets go of the trigger but the electricity doesn’t stop. The officer inspects the taser and calls his partner over when he sees the trigger stuck in position. 

Boden rushes over when he sees what's going on. He yells something at the officer but Casey can’t hear him; the buzzing in his ears making it impossible to hear anything else. The officer finally manages to turn the taser off and Casey slumps to the ground, exhausted. Boden and the officers rush towards him and Casey tries pushing himself off the man but his arms feel like jelly and he just flops back onto the ground. Boden waves Severide over and together they haul Casey to his feet and away from the officers who are busy cuffing the man on the ground. 

“-Casey? Casey!” 

Casey looks over sluggishly when he hears his name being called and sees Boden trying to get his attention.

“I can’t feel my tongue,” He informs them.


	21. U - Unexpected News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last part of three related oneshots. Continued from Chapter 18: R - Recovery? and before that, Chapter 9: I - Ice.

“Oh my gods, you’re making it sound like he’s dead. Move!” 

The newcomer pushes the other doctor away and heads over to the firefighters. 

“I’m so sorry about that. I’m Dr. Solace, Mr. Casey’s doctor. Your friend isn’t dead,” the blond doctor says, sending a glare to the other doctor. Severide snaps his head up, smacking Shay’s chin. 

“He’s okay?” Kelly asks, his voice full of hope.

“Okay is a bit of a stretch but the good new is that he’s alive. The bad news is that your friend suffered a traumatic brain injury and he seems to have amnesia. We can hope it’s temporary but considering his past head injuries, we have to realize that it could be permanent,” the doctor tells them. 

“So he won’t remember me?” Severide asks. The doctor hesitates before nodding once.

“He didn’t seem to remember any of you when we talked to him. It may be days, months even years before he starts to remember. And that’s only if it’s temporary,” Dr. Solace tells them.

“So he’s awake?” Severide says, not waiting for an answer before he runs into the room the doctor left. He throws open the door and stares in shock. The elderly lady on the hospital bed was definitely not his friend. 

“Mrs. Day! Sorry to disturb you,” Dr. Solace says, appearing behind Severide and dragging the firefighter out of the room.

“If you wanted to see him, you could have asked,” the doctor says as he leads Kelly to another room. Kelly steps inside and sees his best friend sitting up in bed, looking around.

“Casey!” Kelly exclaims, throwing his arms around his friend.

“What-? Get off!” Matt says, struggling.

“Matt, it’s me,” Severide falters. Casey stops struggling and grabs onto Kelly’s wrist.

“I’m sorry… I don’t remember,” Casey mutters, looking down.

“My name is Kelly Severide. We’re both lieutenants at firehouse 51. You’re in charge of truck, I’m in charge of squad. We were best friends until Andy die. Then we kind of drifted apart. But we drifted back. You were at my house last night for a movie night and we fell asleep. I offered to let you stay but you refused. You were late to work this morning and everyone was worried because you’re always here at least an hour early. We got a call for a car that went off the road and you were… it was your truck,” Kelly rambles on for nearly an hour with tears streaming down his face. 

He’s just telling Casey about the time they had gotten so drunk that they called Boden, asking if they could have tomorrow off to go unicorn hunting when he looks up. His heart flutters when he sees the blond fast asleep, his pale hand still gripping Severide’s wrist like his life depends on it. Kelly smiles softly before drifting off with the hopeful thought that his best friend would be alright.


	22. V - Vomiting

“Case? You okay in there?” Severide asks as he knocks on the stall door. They had been joking around while they were eating lunch when Casey had suddenly slapped a hand over his mouth and bolted to the washroom, leaving everyone stunned.

The only answer he gets is a groan followed by more retching. Severide is about to open the stall door from above when Casey stumbles out, pale as a sheet with sweat running down his face and soaking his light gray lieutenants shirt.

“You look like shit,” Kelly blurts before he can stop himself.

“I’m fine,” Casey protests and he wipes his chin with a piece of brown paper towel.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Severide frowns. Casey shoots him a glare but doesn’t say anything as he stumbles out into the main room. All conversation ceases immediately as everyone looks over to see Casey and Severide leaving the washroom. Casey takes two steps before his legs give out and he starts to fall to the ground.

“Woah!” Severide exclaims as he catches the lieutenant against his side. The rest of the firefighters watch in shock until Severide looks over.

“A little help would be great!” He says as he struggles to hold Casey up on his own.

Herrmann rushes over and together the two of them maneuver Casey so they’re both taking half his weight.

“Otis! Door!” Severide orders as he and Herrmann carry the unconscious lieutenant towards his office. Otis runs ahead of them to get the door open and Boden comes into the main room just as Herrmann and Severide are laying Casey down on his bunk. 

“What’s going on?” Boden asks.

“Casey’s sick,” Severide informs him as he pulls the covers over his friend.


	23. W - Wrench

“Stay back! I’m warning you! Stay back!” The man warns, brandishing a wrench at the firefighters. Casey and Mills exchange a look as the man shakes the wrench at them.

“My name is Matt. I’m a firefighter and this is Peter. We’re here to help you,” Casey tells the man, taking a step forward.

“I said stay back!” The man shouts, throwing the wrench and hitting Casey in the side of the head. Mills watches in shock as the lieutenant falls to the ground, unconscious.

“I warned you! I warned you but you didn’t listen!” The man screams, bringing the wrench down on Casey’s head again and again. Mills snaps into action before the man can bring it down a fifth time and grabs the wrench from his hands. The man screams again before kicking the lieutenant in the stomach viciously. Mills radios in for backup before tackling the man to the ground. Three officers burst into the room, followed by Severide and Shay.

“What happened?” Severide asks, looking down at his best friend.

“The dude attacked him with a wrench.”


	24. X - X Rays

“Hold still,” the doctor says as she takes the x rays of his arm. Severide scowls as he sees Casey making faces at him through the glass.

“How did this happen anyways?” The doctor asks, throwing a suspicious glance in Casey’s direction.

“Uhhhh,” Severide says as he remembers the intense snowball fight that took place outside the station about an hour ago. The same fight that resulted in him slipping on ice and breaking his arm. “I was on a call. Fell off the truck.”

His lie is exposed as Casey starts laughing, ignoring the disgruntled glare sent his way.

“That’s the best you can come up with?!? He slipped on the ice during a snowball fight,” Casey tells the doctor who grins.


	25. Y - Yawn

Casey presses the back of his hand to his mouth as he yawns. 

“Rough night?” Severide asks with a grin.

“Yeah,” Casey agrees, sending the squad lieutenant a small smile. Severide leaves and Casey sighs as he remembers waking up at two in the morning, screaming.


	26. Z - Zen

Casey lays on the grass with his face to the sun, feeling the warmth on his face as he relaxes. It’s days like this that he remembers why he loves to be alive. It’s moments like these that remind him why-.

His thoughts are interrupted when his body erupts into hot pain and he screams. He opens his eyes to see that ambulance had driven right over his legs.

“Oh my god!” Shay yells as she and Dawson rush to get the gurney ready. He’s about to sit up when he passes out from the pain, his head smacking against the concrete.


End file.
